Over the past few months, the senior leadership team has reexamined a number of areas of Avondale’s operation, including the way in which its courses are delivered – from a structural perspective. Our current approach has been to operate six schools within two Faculties, that then report through to a central structure.
One of the aspects that stood out when analyzing the current approach was the considerable number of academics involved in keeping the whole structure operational. There appeared to be a duplication of layers in the decision making process, with many of the same people represented at two or even three of the different committee levels. In addition, each Faculty had a Faculty Dean, an Assistant Dean (Learning & Teaching) and (until recent times) an Assistant Dean (Research). All essentially doing the same role, with a relatively small number of students. At the School level there appeared to be a similar duplications of resources, with each School requiring a Head of School and a School Committee responsible for its day to day running.
The conclusion from the analysis was that it would be best to take the two smallest schools and to merge them into an existing school, forming a single four-school faculty. When considering the best approach to take with the Avondale Business Schools (currently one of the two smallest schools) external advice was taken as to the best fit. We found that in the majority of cases where Business had become part of another school, it was within an area that also offered a Bachelor of Arts degree. This was the decision we eventually made, creating the School of Arts and Business.
One of the downsides of these restructures can be the resulting loss of identity. The business degrees offered by Avondale for example, have been within the branding of the Avondale Business School, a distinctive unit that has gained traction in stakeholder awareness and engagement. We are pleased that this will be maintained with the new School of Arts and Business, so that the nomenclature of the Avondale Business School continues.
Selecting a Head of School within a merger of this type can also be a challenge, as each area naturally wishes to preserve their focus and identity. In navigating this appointment we were pleased to offer the position to Associate Professor Lisa Barnes, current Head of School for Business. In addition to her experience in the business area, Lisa brings a strong interest and involvement in the Arts. This includes a post-graduate qualification currently being completing within the School of Arts here at Avondale (Counselling).
I do not doubt there will be challenges in bringing together the School of Business and the School of Arts in 2021. What we do have however are staff committed to making it work and who will be working collaboratively to make this new school a strong and successful one.